One of
my pet peeves about bicycle programs for impoverished peopled is the tendency
for these programs to ship abandoned bikes away to countries perceived to be “poor.”
Usually Africa is the recipient.
Not
only do the messages of these programs offend Africans and people in other
developing countries, for goodness sake, they’re shipping great bikes away from
people who could use them in their own countries! This is one important reason
why One Street is so focused on our Social
Bike Business program – to keep bikes and bike careers in their
communities.
I’ve
had some rather bizarre discussions about this with bike advocates and program
leaders in various countries who support these overseas shipment programs and
have found to my amazement a common denial that their country has any
impoverished or struggling people. When I’ve pushed this point, sometimes they
will admit there are some, but then continue to argue for shipping their bikes
away.
These
discussions uncover a disturbing blindness when it comes to recognizing poverty
in our own communities. Here is one
article about some people trying to reveal the invisibility of homelessness.
I realize
that some of these bikes do fill important, temporary gaps in some countries. But
in general they are preventing better long-term solutions such as local bike
manufacturing and businesses that could supply affordable bikes and at the same
time create bike careers for local people. Thus, they remove an opportunity
from one community and hamper opportunities in the receiving community.
So I
was very happy to find this
article from Wichita, Kansas, of all places. Their program to match abandoned
bikes with currently homeless people in their city seems like a great
model. I plan to point to this example the next time I engage in a heated
discussion about shipping bikes away from people who could use them, right
where they already are.
Do you
know of other nice examples that are keeping abandoned bikes in their
communities? Please offer them in the comments section.
Sue
